India's largest solar power park of 4.75 Gigawatt (Gw) is set to be established in Rann of Kutch in Khavada, Gujarat. The renewable energy park will be built by the largest power producer of the country, NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of NTPC.
The NTPC-REL said in a statement on July 13, 2021 that it had received a nod from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to set up the 4750 MW renewable energy park.
The state-run company plans to use the park to generate green hydrogen on a commercial scale. The Hydrogen produced from renewable sources is called green hydrogen.
Key Highlights
• The NTPC-REL said in a release that “as part of its green energy portfolio augmentation, NTPC, India’s largest energy integrated company, aims to build 60 GW Renewable Energy Capacity by 2032.”
The company now has 70 power plants with a total installed generation capacity of 66 GW, out of which thermal (coal+gas) is 61 Gw, hydro 3.7 Gw, solar is 1 Gw and the balance is wind. An additional 18 GW generation capacity is currently under construction.
• Besides solar and wind power projects, NTPC is also looking to invest in green hydrogen and green methanol, which are cleaner fuels manufactured at units powered by renewable energy.
• Currently, there are five operational solar power parks in the country, out of which Bhadla in Rajasthan
and Pavgada in Karnataka are the world’s largest single-location solar plants.
• India’s first solar power park of 0.75 Gw was fully commissioned in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district in 2019.